His two marriages resulted in 20 children. He did various types of work and had several business ventures. He was not a successful businessman, and his family lived insecurely. .
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Lee, Robert Edward (1807-1870), was a great general who commanded the Confederate Army in the Civil War. Lee's fame is from his military achievements as Confederate commander in the face of overwhelming odds, and on his outstanding personal character. He won the admiration and respect of Northerners as well as Southerners. Lee fought for one section of the nation, but the struggle did not make him intolerant. He didn't fight for personal gain, but to prove himself worthy of a cause. Union General Ulysses S. Grant, to whom Lee was finally forced to surrender, said about Lee: "There was not a man in the Confederacy whose influence with the whole people was as great as his." .
Unlike many Southerners, Lee did not believe in slavery and didn't like the secession either . He felt that slavery had an evil effect on masters as well as slaves. A long time before the war, he had freed the few slaves whom he had inherited. Lee admired George Washington, and hated the thought of a divided nation. But eventually he felt that his state was protecting the very liberty, freedom, and legal principles for which Washington had fought. Lee was willing to leave the Union, just like Washington who had left the British Empire, in order to fight what the South called a second war of independence. .
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Grant, Ulysses S. (1822-1885), commanded the Union armies at the end of the Civil War in 1865. His success and fame as a general led to his election as president in 1868. During his military career, Grant led his troops with energy and determination. He developed confidence in his own judgment, and an ability to learn from experience. But the qualities that had brought him military success were not enough to solve the nation's problems in the 1870's.